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In his only Super Bowl appearance, Alex Smith stayed on the sideline after having lost his job as the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback.
Andrew Bogut played a total of three minutes in the last three games of the 2015 NBA Finals as the Golden State Warriors altered their lineup.
So not everything has played out as ideally scripted for them in the 11 seasons since Smith and Bogut left the University of Utah. After starring in the school's unbeaten football season and a Sweet 16 basketball appearance, they became the No. 1 overall picks in the NFL and NBA drafts, two months apart. Their draft status, fairly or not, is really the only element that would make anyone view their careers as anything other than highly successful.
And just look at them now, in Year 11: Smith posted career highs in passing and running yards this season, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to 10 straight wins and an AFC playoff date Saturday at Houston. Bogut remains the center of a potential history-making Warriors team that stands 33-2, while he ranks among the NBA's most influential defensive players.
Oh, and they're approaching $200 million in combined income. That explains why Smith, who earned an economics degree from Utah in barely two years, joked in advance of his 2014 commencement address at the school that he would suggest the graduates learn to throw a football. Such advice would have come too late for that audience, but Smith certainly is getting better at his own job at age 31.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid cited Smith's work ethic, intelligence and familiarity with the scheme for his improvement in his third season in Kansas City, having given him much more responsibility this season. "I mean, he's a brilliant guy," Reid said in a recent news conference. "But just the consistency of being in the same offense, doing the same things — you can see the comfort that he's got there. Listen, do we all have room to improve? Yeah. … But he's playing at a very high level right now."
Smith threw 312 passes without an interception in the middle of this season, the second-longest streak in NFL history. But then last Sunday, he was picked off on consecutive throws, with the second interception returned for an Oakland touchdown.
The Chiefs still won, completing an 11-5 regular season with Smith having passed for 3,486 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 498 yards. In ESPN's "Total QBR" system that combines passing and running, he's ranked No. 8 in the league.
Reid has incorporated some of the designed runs from Smith's Utah days, when he went 21-1 as a starter in coach Urban Meyer's spread offense. In San Francisco, coaching changes and injuries spoiled Smith's first four seasons. He eventually regained the job and led the 49ers to the 2011 NFC championship game, an overtime loss to the New York Giants. The next year, he was playing better than ever before his concussion resulted in Colin Kaepernick's becoming the QB and taking the team to the Super Bowl, where the 49ers lost to Baltimore. The Chiefs then traded for Smith, who's 30-16 as their starter.
In his first playoff appearance with Kansas City, Smith played brilliantly but the Chiefs lost a 28-point lead in a 45-44 defeat two years ago at Indianapolis. The team's last playoff victory came in the 1993 season, so Saturday's game is another opportunity for Smith to make a breakthrough.
Regardless, his role in reviving the Chiefs has enhanced his career. Acknowledging a big difference between picked No. 1 and No. 32, I would rank Smith No. 10 among the 40 quarterbacks drafted in the first round since 2002 — with the only problem being that the 49ers took him over Aaron Rodgers.
Similarly, the judgment of Bogut's NBA career is affected mostly by the success of point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams, drafted behind him. Otherwise, he has fulfilled expectations, amid health issues that have allowed him to play only 602 of 855 possible games (70.4 percent) in his career. The string of injuries bracketed his 2009-10 season in Milwaukee, where he averaged 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak barely missed the Best of Bogut, having been fired as the Bucks' coach. Yet he's proud of how Bogut has evolved into a defensive specialist with the Warriors, who don't need him to score (he averages 5.5 points). Golden State coach Steve Kerr went with a small lineup in the middle of the NBA Finals vs. Cleveland and benched Bogut, who never complained as the team went on to win the title.
Bogut has contributed consistently to the Warriors' phenomenal start in 2015-16, though, including a Christmas Day victory over Cleveland as he posted four points, seven rebounds and four blocks in 24 minutes.
"It was really a blessing, I think, for him to get out of Milwaukee, and I think Golden State recognized what he could bring to a team, and it's come to fruition," Krystkowiak said last summer. "He gives them some toughness and protects the rim."
And, like Smith, Bogut is thriving in the second chapter of a productive pro career.
Utes' top picks
ALEX SMITH
Age • 31.
Utah career • 2002-04; went 21-1 as starting quarterback, including Liberty Bowl and Fiesta Bowl victories.
Drafted • No. 1 overall, by San Francisco.
Traded • To Kansas City in 2013 for two second-round picks.
Career statistics • 61 percent completion rate, 24,344 yards, 142 touchdowns, 83 interceptions; 68-52-1 record as starting quarterback.
ANDREW BOGUT
Age • 31.
Utah career • 2003-05; started every game for two seasons as Utes went 55-13, reaching the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 in '05.
Drafted • No. 1 overall, by Milwaukee.
Traded • To Golden State in 2012, with Monta Ellis the other key player involved.
Career statistics • 602 games, 10.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.6 blocked shots.